The Rise of the Violet Eyed Nightmare
by My Soul is Spartan
Summary: Darkrai finds an abandoned pokemon egg in Alamos Town's garden, can he succeed in being the one thing he thought he'd never be? A parent.
1. Chapter 1

The Rise of the Violet Eyed Nightmare

Chapter 1

"Ugh...Stupid snow." I mumbled, brushing the stuff off my shoulders after it had fallen on me from the tree branches above. A muffled laugh was sounded to my left and I glanced over. Gallade stood there, his right hand covering his mouth. He chuckled again when he noticed me looking at him.

"How can you not like the snow, Darkrai?" He asked. "It's so pretty. It makes the garden look so pure and-" Gallade was cut off as a pile of snow from a different tree fell upon his own head.

"COLD!" He shouted, shaking the snow off quickly. Now it was my turn to laugh. Gallade frowned at me for a moment before a smile tugged at his lips and he laughed as well.

"But seriously, why don't you like the snow?"

I tried to think of the simplest way to phrase my answer.

"It's because I like to be able to hide myself easily. And that's hard to do with all this white snow everywhere." I said. Gallade looked me over before nodding in agreement.

"I suppose your colors would make blending in difficult right now, but still, you can turn into a shadow. Couldn't you just do that when you want to hide?"

"Yes, but it requires more energy, I couldn't do it forever."

Gallade seemed to want to discuss it further, but my glare got him to drop the subject.

"So...uhh...Do you know when Alice and Tonio are coming back from their vacation?" He asked, fidgeting slightly before calming himself. I closed my eyes and thought for a moment.

"Six days, 17 hours, 32 minutes." I sighed. When I opened my eyes I noticed Gallade had that look on his face, the look of when he's about to try to say something comforting.

_Hold on,_ I thought, _did I just let slip that I miss those two?_ Based on the fact that Gallade still had that look it seemed I had.

"Y'know Darkrai, I live in this garden too. If you ever want to just talk or-"

"I've got to go." And with that I melted into the shadows and left him there, I just wasn't in the mood.

000

"-hang out." Gallade finished, even though he knew that Darkrai was far out of earshot. He wished Darkrai would open up to him more, especially since he was one of Darkrai's only friends in the garden. But Darkrai was Darkrai, and probably nothing would ever change him.

000

I slowed down once I was deep in the center of the garden. Not only because I knew I was far from Gallade, but also because I felt...something. It felt like life energy, but that couldn't be. It was much too faint. Unless, of course, whoever the energy belonged to was dying, that would explain why it was so weak.

Understand this, I don't really care for the other pokemon in the garden, they insult and taunt me any chance they get. Even after I helped save their tails when Dialga and Palkia were having their fight over Alamos Town. My point being, I'm not the "heartless demon" they all say I am. And I'm certainly not going to start being one now.

So I pull myself out of shadow form and search for that rapidly fading life aura. If there's anything I learned from my time with these humans it's that this garden is everyone's. No one's going to die here today.

_Wait a moment,_ I thought to myself, _I feel it. Right...below me? _I levitated back a little before extending my legs to kneel in the snow.

"Hold on." I whispered to whomever was buried there, though I doubted they would have been able to hear me.

My claws dug away the icy snow from the spot where I had originally been hovering. I had removed nearly a foot of snow and ice before I found what was giving off the energy. Gently, I took it from the hole. In my hands I held an egg.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. I'm not sure how regular updates will be, but I'll try not to take too long. So anyways, I don't own Pokemon or anything and don't make money from it. Enjoy (:**

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**...**

Chapter 2

...

""What the...?" Was all I could say. I really didn't know what to say, or what to think even. What was this egg doing out here in the middle of the garden. Did another pokemon lose it or perhaps... abandon it? The very thought of someone abandoning an egg made my rage and dark aura spike within me. Any Psychic types within a mile of me were probably getting shivers at the moment.

_Calm down_, I thought to myself, clenching my clawed hands into fists. I took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. Just as Alice had showed me to do whenever I was really angry. Or really felt like killing someone, as I did at that moment.

Once my dark aura quieted within me I went back to examining the egg. It was rather plain, all white except for a couple brown splotches. I could sense no other pokemon life aura's nearby, not even residual aura, meaning the egg had been here for at least a few days. In Arceus' name I have no idea how such a fragile thing could have stayed alive this long without its nest or parents.

_What a tough little thing_, I mused, _but now... what do I do with it?_

I may be a centuries old, legendary god of nightmares, but during all my years of life I've not once held an egg. It felt cold, most likely from being buried under the snow, but seemed to warm considerably now that it was resting in my hands.

"Well," I sighed. "I might as well take you to Gallade. Maybe he'll know what to do." I started sinking into the welcoming shadows when I felt the egg give off a strong pulse of a single emotion.

Fear.

The emotion was powerful, ringing in my skull.

"Okay, okay. No shadow travel." I told it. I'm not even sure how an egg could sense what was going on around it or even give off emotions. And yet, it was.

When I enter the shadows to travel I can get to a destination pretty quickly, but seeing as this egg could actually sense the dark power of the shadows and fear it, we'd have to get to Gallade another way.

"I hope you don't mind heights." I stated jokingly, gripping the egg tightly, but not too tightly as to crack it or something. I began to rise higher and higher until I was above the still leafy, but snow covered trees.

The snow had been a surprise to the people of Alamos Town. To me, not so much. I know it was Articuno who brought all the snow, she knows how much I hate the stuff. She claims it was an accident, that she wasn't paying attention to where she was flying and had forgotten that I was even staying here. Yeah right, I know she did it because she's mad I called her a big, blue Pidgey. That may have been a lapse of judgment on my part, but there's no point dwelling on it now as once again I felt that ringing in my head and that familiar burst of fear from the egg.

"Dear Arceus!" I shouted at the egg, beginning a slow descent back to the ground.

"You're frightened of heights too? How can you even tell how high up we are?" I shifted the egg in my hands angrily, searching for an eyehole or something that was allowing the egg to see what was going on. There was nothing though, just smooth eggshell. The level of fear the egg emitted spiked even higher as I yelled at it and I had to hold my breath and force myself to calm down. As I did I felt the egg calm slightly as well, but the fear was still there.

_Oh great_, I thought as I was finally levitating only two feet above the ground, _now I feel guilty. What's happening to me? _Sighing heavily I shook my head and did something I never thought I'd do.

I apologized... to an egg.

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**Well that's it for now. I know the chapters are pretty short, they may get longer but as of yet I'm not sure. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Update time! This chapter is a little longer than the others because I'm trying to fit a lot in at the moment so the progression of the story doesn't get wacky or anything. I will probably have the egg hatching within the next few chapters or something like that, and don't worry it will be a real pokemon. Also, this story will not feature a pairing between Darkrai and Cresselia. So if anybody was hoping for that sorry. Alas let's get on with the story. I don't own or profit from pokemon. Enjoy (:**

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Chapter 3

Well, _finally _we were making progress on getting through the garden to Gallade. It had taken about nine minutes for the fear to completely dissipate from the egg and allow for travel. I figure the egg was mulling things over during that time before finally deciding that my apology was genuine, and forgiving me. As to how it was even able to forgive or mull things over as an egg... it still sounds crazy. So either this egg really is doing these things that I find so astounding or I'm the one going crazy. _Wonderful, _I had thought, _the thing hasn't even hatched yet and already it's making me question my sanity._

One way or another though, I'm going to get this egg to Gallade, hopefully while I'm still sane. If Cresselia was here she'd probably say I lost my mind a long time ago. Maybe so, but anyone would have if they'd lived next to that island of endless chattering for as long as I had.

I couldn't help but shiver at the memories of my time on Newmoon Island. It was MY island and yet I still seemed to wake up every morning to see my annoying sister yammering in my face about the "most wonderful dream I've ever encountered." Then she'd go on to describe to me in vast detail just why it was so wonderful.

Whatever me and Gallade decided to do with this egg, giving it to Cresselia was not an option. And I'll be sure to tell him that when I actually find him, but at the rate we're travelling I'm not sure when that will be. After all the "complaints" I received from the egg about height and speed of travel I resigned myself to going at a slow-paced walk.

And yes, I do mean walk. I had actually extended my legs to use them for their intended purpose. A very rare occurrence for me since I usually just levitated. But at the moment I found that the bitter cold feeling travelling up my legs from the snow was a welcome distraction from all of this egg nonsense. Although it also reminded me of another memory of my sister, but i suppose any good thing has its drawbacks.

**o0o Flashback o0o**

It was early morning on Newmoon Island and once again Cresselia was there with me. She was blabbering on about some wonderful dream a young girl had had about running through a field of Gracidea flowers with a Ponyta. And about just how much more wonderful the dream got when the Ponyta evolved into a Rapidash and carried the girl on its back over a rainbow.

The girl had been having this dream for days now. It was her favorite as well as Cresselia's. She loved to talk about it, but this time before she finished she grew quiescent.

I was leaning against a tree with my eyes closed when I noticed her silence. She was so quiet, if not for her gentle breathing and the psychic aura she exuded I might have thought, and even hoped, that she had gotten bored of telling the same story and left. Since I knew that this wasn't the case I opened my eyes to look at her.

She had a crestfallen look on her face, her head tilted down slightly and bright lavender eyes trained on the unmoving ground. And so, against my better judgment, I decided to do the brotherly thing and ask her what was wrong. I really must be crazy.

"Oh Darkrai!" She sobbed, "Why did Arceus make me without legs?"

I just stared at her, _is she serious? _I thought to myself. Not eliciting the reaction from me that she wanted, her countenance changed from sad to angry.

"I knew you wouldn't understand! You couldn't understand, you have legs!" She shouted.

"But I barely even use them."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"The point is that you have the option to use them. And you really should use them too. You're lucky to have them. And who knows, you might need them one day."

To me, the way Cresselia said that last part always made me think that she'd come over to my island while I was asleep and rip off my legs. She never did, but I never really got a good night's sleep again knowing she was only a short distance away.

"I think I understand what you mean." I told her.

"Really?" She smiled optimistically.

"Yes. I believe you're upset because _you're _a legless freak and you want me to make use of my legs more often because _I'm_ not a legless freak like you." I told her sweetly and had to hold back a laugh when her smile faltered and her jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Her lavender eyes flared and she screeched.

"How dare you Darkrai! You inconsiderate jerk!" With that she vanished, back to Fullmoon Island I figure. Finally alone on my own island I couldn't help but laugh at just how upset I could make my sister.

**o0o End Flashback o0o**

A rough shiver went through me and broke me from the memory. It seems I had been walking in the snow for too long as I started to feel a sort of numbness crawling up legs. I'm not immune to the cold after all. So I retracted my legs and felt my body graciously offer heat to warm them.

Now that I was without my distraction of cold I thought it best to check over the egg. It had been quiet for a while, meaning it hadn't expressed any emotions that I could register. And being inexperienced with eggs as I was I might have thought it was dead if not for being able to sense its life aura. So I slowly rotated it in my hands and looked it over, just to double check in case my senses were wrong. They never were, but for some reason I felt like being cautious. I felt as if I was somehow responsible for its well being, how very strange. The quicker I dealt with this egg, the better.

The egg felt as if it was at a sufficient temperature and all else seemed well, maybe the inhabitant of the egg was just sleeping. _Can an egg actually sleep? _I wondered. Either way, I went back to cradling the egg in my arms, in the manliest way possible of course. I can't have the other pokemon of the garden thinking I've gone soft.

Now that I knew the egg was surely alive and safe I paused for a moment to look at my surroundings. And I could happily note that we were finally back at the place where, this very morning, Gallade and I had conversed about why I hate snow. But there was a problem...

Gallade wasn't here.

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**That's it for this chapter. It's a little longer than the others so far but that won't always be the case.** **So... yeah. Well hope everyone enjoyed and things should hopefully get a little more interesting soon. XD **


	4. Chapter 4

**Update time. I don't own pokemon and don't make money from it and yadda yadda. Enjoy (:**

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Chapter 4

I really shouldn't be surprised that Gallade isn't here waiting as if he were some growlithe waiting for its master. He's better than that, or at least he's gotten better. There was one time when he had waited over two hours for me return.

**o0o Flashback o0o**

It was after I had made a hasty exit from a conversation that I didn't wish to be a part of. I had planned on heading back earlier than I did, but a large thunderstorm broke out. I hadn't felt like travelling through the icy rain so I waited out the storm at Tonio's mansion.

Once the thunder stopped and the heavy rain subsided to a light sprinkle, I decided it was best to leave. I didn't want to become a burden to Tonio by staying too long. He tells me I'm always welcome at his home, and I believe him. He has true kindness in his eyes that I have seen in only a few others.

I had then proceeded to bow and thank him for the shelter before leaving for my own home within the garden. Going down the same path which had brought me to Tonio's home I soon came upon a sad sight.

That of a shivering and soaked Gallade.

He was sitting on a small boulder, the same one he'd been sitting on when we had talked earlier, in fact. And was rubbing his arms with his hands in what seemed to be an attempt at warming himself. Rolling my eyes I went over to scold him for sitting in the rain for however long he had. He had looked at me with those big red eyes and said he'd been waiting for me to come back. He turned his head to the side briefly to sneeze loudly then turned back to me. It seemed he'd gotten a cold from sitting in the rain.

I felt bad that my friend was sick because of me. I apologized and told him that whenever I went off by myself like I did that he shouldn't wait for me to return. Instead he should just carry on as he would normally. Gallade had seemed a little skeptical of this but thought no more of it as a fit of coughs overtook him.

I figured that we were closer to Tonio's home than we were to either of our own, so I escorted him there. By the time we arrived, Gallade had gone from walking on his own to resting half his body weight on my right shoulder. Which had caused my shoulder ruff to hang loosely on my back.

Tonio soon responded to my knocking and slowly opened his large front door. The first thing he had seen was me.

"Hello Darkrai, back so-" He stopped as he opened the door more and saw Gallade. Quickly, Tonio ran outside to help me carry Gallade inside.

Tonio told me he'd dry Gallade off and give him a warm bed to sleep in. He had asked me if I would like to spend the night as well. I declined.

Once the front door was closed I had left for the garden.

**o0o End Flashback o0o**

Since Gallade isn't here that must mean he's been doing what I've told him. So in order to find him I just need to think about what he'd be doing right now. I looked up to the sky to see the sun's position and hopefully get an idea of what time it was.

The sun appeared to be behind the Space and Time Towers, it was much later than I had realized, around dinnertime. Which means Gallade should be at his favorite pecha berry tree.

"Alright Egg," I said, "we're off to find Gallade."

**0o0o0o0o0**

Gallade was happy that he'd taken Darkrai's advice and hadn't waited around for long. Darkrai could be gone for hour's at a time if he didn't want to talk. And besides, it was time for dinner. Gallade was at his favorite tree pulling down a branch that was closer to the snowy ground so it was right in front of his face. With his free hand he plucked a nice ripe pecha berry from its leafy cradle and gobbled it down.

Looking up a little he noticed the top of the branch he held had an extremely juicy looking berry. All he would need to do is pull down the branch a bit more. Keeping his gaze straight ahead he pulled the branch down below his line of sight so he was looking directly into the piercing blue eye of Darkrai.

**0o0o0o0o0**

I had finally found Gallade, he was indeed eating at his tree like I thought he was. He had a leafy branch in front of his face so he couldn't see me coming. I didn't want to yell out and startle him so I figured it'd be best to go wait in front of him so when he moved the branch he'd see me right away.

I waited patiently as Gallade still didn't sense my presence, perhaps being around me so much has gotten him too used to my dark aura to really notice it. It didn't matter as he pulled down the branch below his face so he was looking directly in my eyes.

_Oh, maybe he did know I was here_, I thought.

Then Gallade screamed. Really loud.

_Or maybe not_, I winced.

In fact, Gallade was so startled that he let go of the branch. The sudden force from being released scattered berries everywhere. Including one very large one right at my face.

**0o0o0o0o0**

"_WHAAAAH_!" Gallade screamed, releasing his hold on the branch and flinging pecha berries everywhere. Including the largest berry that he had been reaching for a moment ago but was now being flung right into Darkrai's face. Where his mouth would seemingly be and where the berry seemed to disappear. As if it was absorbed into him, except then he proceeded to choke for a moment. Darkrai lifted his right arm and clenched his hand into a fist before slightly pounding on his chest.

"Oh my gosh! Darkrai, are you alright?" Darkrai seemed to nod that he was okay, then Gallade looked down at what was occupying Darkrai's left arm.

"Uhh...Darkrai? What are you holding?"

**0o0o0o0o0**

I pounded my chest lightly as I had to quickly chew and swallow the pecha berry. I do have a mouth after all, I need to eat, just not all that often. My mouth is just hidden on my face, when I want eat something I just press it to my face. Then it is absorbed into my mouth and then to the rest of my body.

So I was indeed choking for a moment.

I nodded when Gallade asked if I was okay and watched as his eyes travelled down to my left arm. And more importantly, the egg it was curled around. With an aghast expression he asked what I was holding. It was obviously an egg so I suppose he just wanted to be sure he wasn't imagining things.

"It's an egg." I told him simply.

"Okay, but what are you doing with it? Where'd it come from?" He asked, motioning for me to bring it up in front of me but not to hand it over.

"After I left you earlier I travelled out to the center of the garden and I found this egg buried under the snow. There was no sign of the parents or of a nest so I took it. It would have died otherwise."

"That was very kind of you to save it, but what do you plan to do with it now?"

"I thought you might be able to help with that."

"Me? I don't know the first thing about caring for eggs."

"Well, could you help me find someone else who could take care of it?" I asked him hopefully.

"I suppose so, but we'd have to wait until tomorrow. Most of the other garden pokemon will be getting ready to sleep."

What Gallade said made sense. The other pokemon would probably be more agreeable if they had a good night's rest.

"What should we do with the egg tonight then?"

Gallade thought quietly for a moment before answering.

"Well, you've had the egg for a good while now and it seems fine. Just take it home with you. And I'll see you tomorrow." Gallade hightailed it out of my sight before I could complain.

Holding the egg in both hands, I brought it up to my face and sighed.

"I guess you're bunking with me tonight Egg."

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**That's it for chapter 4. The next chapter will take Gallade and Darkrai around the garden searching for possible caretakers for Egg so stay tuned. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Man, I can't believe it's been so long since I updated. Sorry about that. So anyways... don't own any of it and here's chapter 5.**

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Chapter 5

_Alamos Town. The place I call home. What has happened to you? I am in Town Square, standing before the two towers. I look up to the sky and see only darkness, but I cannot associate this darkness with that of the night. It is something unnatural that envelopes my home. Similar, in a way, to Palkia's dimensional distortion that had once isolated the town. But this feels more familiar to me, as if I am connected to it somehow._

_ I could no longer bare to look into that pitch-black sky, I have to find Alice and the others._

_ I go down the first alleyway closest to me, traveling in silence. The town is so quiet, no happy conversation, laughter, not even crying. Where are all the people and pokemon? I wondered._

_ It had taken a few minutes , but finally I had reached the end of the alley that joined into a main street. And that is where I saw them. Lying immediately to my right was a small group of Rattata and Murkrow, they looked to be sleeping. I hovered closer to them and reached out my hand to try and nudge them awake. My claw tip touched a murkrow's wing and I recoiled sharply. I felt... nothing. No life aura came from these young pokemon... they were dead._

_ "Dear Arceus!" I cried, "What is going on here?"_

_ Quickly, I tore down the open street, over the figures of people and pokemon lying unmoving on the cold cobblestone. I felt faint life aura from adults and stronger, evolved pokemon, but from most, young human children included, I felt nothing. I had to find my friends._

_ "Alice! Tonio! Gallade!" I shouted, "Where are you?"_

_ There._

_ Embracing each other, Alice and Tonio lay upon the ground, Gallade at their feet. Are they alive? I placed my hand on each of theirs... yes, but just barely. All three were within some sort of comatose state._

_ "What has happened here?" I asked aloud, placing my hands over my face._

_**"You know what has happened."**_

___I looked up from my hands and twisted around, but saw no one._

_ "Who are you?" I yelled, searching for the source of the voice._

_**"You know who I am." **__The voice responded calmly from behind me. I growled and turned around slashing my claws, but they caught nothing but air. I trained my eyes on the ground and snarled._

_ "No, I don't! Why don't you just tell me?"_

_**"Why should I? The answer is right in front of your face."**_

___My head snapped up and I was looking into a pair of gleaming, violet eyes._

**0o0o0o0o0**

Something hit my waist and I jolted awake. Immediately I looked up at the sky, it was a light blue. White fluffy clouds floating out of reach and a flock of Pidgeotto flew by overhead. My claws were digging into the foliage atop the flat arbor that was my bed. I relaxed them before running my digits through my billowing hair.

"What a horrible nightmare." I said. My ability has given me nightmares plenty of times, but never anything quite like that. I glanced down to my left where Egg had rolled off my waist from where I was holding it last night. I picked it up and hovered down from the leafy arbor to the melting snow covered ground.

"Did you wake me from that nightmare Egg?" I asked curiously, inspecting it slightly.

Egg bounced in my hands as if in reply, and I was so surprised I nearly dropped it. Did Egg really sense my discomfort from that nightmare and purposely try to wake me?

_Nonsense_, I thought chuckling, _it was just a coincidence. It must be nearing hatching time._

Which reminds me, it's time to meet with Gallade. Heading off to Gallade's Pecha berry tree, where I knew he'd be waiting, I couldn't stop thinking about those violet eyes.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Gallade was leaning against his tree and looking in every direction. Apparently he didn't wish for a recap of yesterday. Well, I didn't either so I made sure I was right in his line of vision from farther back.

Gallade smiled and waved when he saw us, walking over to meet us half way.

"So... What's the plan?" He asked.

"Uhh, well, I figure we'll just go ask every pokemon in the garden if they'll take Egg." I said.

Gallade looked at me strangely for a moment. Perhaps he thought it was a stupid plan, although I admit it kind of is, or maybe it was because I had named the egg, Egg.

"Alright. Let's get to it." He said happily, heading off towards the more populated section of the garden. I watched him go for a moment before following after him, cradling Egg in my arms.

_Let's get to it._

**0o0o0o0o0**

The plan was a bust. Gallade and I had spent nearly all day traversing the garden asking around for possible caretakers for Egg. Not one agreed.

We started our search with pokemon who already had children, hoping they wouldn't mind one more. Most of them dismissed rather rudely, saying they had enough mouths to feed. Although the garden is abundant in food, I believe their real reason is just that they don't want to help me in any way. Even if it means helping Egg. And yet they call _me _cold hearted.

There was a mother Cherrim however, that was very kind. She couldn't take Egg either, but had promised that if we could find no one to take Egg before it hatched she would teach me how to take care of it. It was a gracious offer so I accepted. Although I couldn't possibly imagine myself as ever being a parent. It sounded so absurd.

But she insisted it was probably the best idea, that fate had me find this egg. That we were meant to find each other. Gallade offered to help me out if I did decide to keep and raise Egg. He agreed with Cherrim that the egg was indeed strong like me for surviving in the cold snow like it had. And so I would be perfect to look out for it.

I had to think about it, but the idea no longer sounded so farfetched to me.

Finally I gave in to their insisting. If we could find no other pokemon to do so and since Alice and Tonio probably wouldn't be back before the egg hatched, then I would attempt to raise it.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Within the last hour of sunlight, Gallade and I had spoken with the remaining pokemon. And near all of them had said they wouldn't even think of touching the egg now that I had "tainted it with my dark and evil soul." Those are their cruel words exactly, not mine. They even suggested to just kill it now since they would accept it as much as they accepted me once it hatched. Which was pretty much not at all. Geeze, you'd think being legendary would garner me some respect.

A large Luxray growled at Gallade when he tried to defend me and then offered to kill Egg right then and there.

My eyes may be blue, but trust me, at that moment I was only seeing red. 

**0o0o0o0o0**

Gallade and I were slowly walking back to our homes. Behind us were over a dozen pokemon tossing and turning from the horrid nightmares I had inflicted on them all after trapping them in my Dark Void. They deserved it. Gallade had even reassured me that they did. But I didn't need his reassurance to know that.

When we reached Gallade's tree we parted ways for the night. Gallade stopped for a moment and chuckled. I looked back at him and he smiled.

"Well," he said "looks like you're going to be a dad."

**0o0o0o0o0**

**That ends chapter 5. I hope the wait wasn't to terrible or anything, because my updating schedule might be a little weird. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and what not. **

**Thanks for reading (: **


	6. Chapter 6

**Man, sorry it takes me so long to do these. I just need a good burst of inspiration before I can really get to work on a chapter. So to make up for the wait there is a sort of surprise in this chapter. Disclaimer that I don't own pokemon or anything. And enjoy :)**

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Chapter 6

I couldn't sleep tonight. When I had finally allowed myself to drift into those first few minutes of deep slumber my dreams were plagued. The image of those violet eyes was haunting, they stared right at me and I jolted awake.

I've gone without sleep before, those times I usually would go and visit Giratina in the Reverse world. He's liked about as much as I am by other pokemon, although they respect him more do to his important role in maintaining the balance of the world. He still gets lonely though, all by himself in own realm. So he thoroughly enjoys when I come to visit him. I enjoy the visits as well as Giratina is part of my very, very small group of true friends.

I thought about perhaps visiting him tonight, maybe even try to get his insight about the nightmare. Although I don't think Egg would like taking a trip to the Reverse world. And I dare not leave Egg alone here. There are always a few garden pokemon just waiting for an opening to come and vandalize my home when I'm not around. I would never stoop so low as to harm another's home. Who knows what they might do if they found Egg all alone.

I figured then that I should just wait out the night with Egg. Letting my legs hang over the side of my arbor I cradled Egg in my arms. Then slowly rocked it back and forth, like I had once seen Alice do with her chimchar.

For the first time since I found Egg I really wondered what kind of pokemon was inside. Would it be a dark-type like myself? I highly doubt it, that would make things slightly easier, fate never gives me an easy time.

What if it hatched into a bug? I don't hate bug types, but I don't much care for them either.

Well, whatever type it is, I'll take care of it. Besides it's already an outcast among the other pokemon, just like I am. And outcasts should stick together.

Sticking together. That's all it would be. Gallade said I was going to be a dad, but that's not even possible. There's no blood relation between us, and I'm not going to be this kid's mother. I agreed to be a caretaker. To simply raise the kid until it's old enough to take care of itself.

Besides, I've never had a father so how would I even know how one's supposed to act.

I shook my head and sighed loudly. Now I needed a distraction from my distraction. Raising my head to look up at the night sky I began to count the stars.

**0o0o0o0o0**

**Canalave City**

A small coffee shop sat quite silently on the street corner. Most of the townspeople were spending their morning down by the canal to welcome a ferryboat with another group of tourists.

_Canalave city has seen quite an economic boost. _An older woman noted. _Now that Darkrai has stopped coming here people don't seem too afraid to visit anymore. _

The woman prepared a small cup of coffee from behind the shops counter. No cream or sugar, not even a drop of miltank milk.

The woman never hated Darkrai for causing nightmares like the other people did. She had figured he was just lonely and wanted a friend. And since people never even gave him a chance that he'd give them a real reason to fear him.

The woman exited the shop with the coffee on a little serving dish and wondered if Darkrai was okay.

Reaching the last of the five round tables set up outside she set the coffee down in front of a solitary man. He wore skinny, dark grey jeans and a black, hooded jacket. Around his right arm a purple bandana was tied tightly. The young man's hood was down and his shoulder length red hair hung loosely. His green eyes shone with hidden intent, beneath his left eye was a tattoo of a cross.

The woman felt a nervous shiver travel up her spine as she looked at him. He handed her a five dollar bill and muttered 'keep the change' in a suave voice.

She gave as much of a smile as she could before quickly heading back towards the door.

_What an eerie young man. _She thought.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Once the woman left another man, dressed in a similar garb, came to join the other at the table. This man kept his hood up and set a medium sized, wooden chest gently on the table .

"Greetings Brother Simon." The red-haired man said.

"Greetings Father Nathaniel," the hooded man replied with a slight bow of his head, "we have finally procured the artifact."

Father Nathaniel ran his fingers along the warped wood and smiled a toothy smile.

"Well done Brother Simon, your success has earned you the highest honor. Are you prepared to sacrifice everything for our lord's Great Awakening?"

The hooded man nodded firmly.

"Yes, Father Nathaniel."

**0o0o0o0o0**

The woman had stepped outside once more when she had thought she had seen someone else sitting with the red-haired man. But as she walked outside she saw no one. Nothing remained of the man except an untouched cup of coffee.

**0o0o0o0o0**

I had finally given up. Counting the stars hadn't worked. As soon as I had gotten into the thousands Egg bounced on my lap and I lost my place. After the third attempt it didn't matter much anymore as the stars had all gone to make way for the morning. Egg had been moving around a lot this morning and I was beginning to worry that something was wrong.

I figured I should go find Gallade and tell him about what was happening to Egg, but I was stopped in my tracks as Egg seemed to jump around in my arms. I planted my pointed feet into the damp ground, nearly all of the snow had melted, and held Egg in my claws out in front of me.

In a moment Egg became still, the jerky movements became replaced by something stranger. Egg began to glow.

"What the..." I wondered aloud.

My hands felt slightly colder as Egg seemed to change shapes into a recognizable pokemon. One with a pair of long pointed brown ears, a large an bushy white-tipped tail, and four paws. It was an eevee with gleaming purple eyes that, with a wide smile, and in a chipper and girlish voice chirruped.

"Daddy!"

**0o0o0o0o0**

**That's the end of chapter 6. Surprise! Egg hatched, Yay! From the moment I decided to write this story I had planned the egg to hatch into an eevee ;) Hopefully the wait was worth it. Until next update, au revoir :3**


	7. Chapter 7

**Update time! I had this chapter written for a bit but I hate typing it up. **

**Disclaimer that I don't own pokemon or anything. And enjoy :)**

**000000**

Chapter 7

For a moment nothing existed in my world, except for those purple eyes. I heard nothing, smelled nothing, saw nothing but those eyes. Familiar in color yes, but they showed no evil or malicious nature behind them as the ones in my dream had. Could this creature grow into that violet-eyed nightmare? Was it fate for me, the god of nightmares, to find it. Was it destiny to find this small being and snuff out its life?

That thought swam in my head and I contemplated how easy it would be to simply snap this fragile creature's neck. It would be quick and painless. By doing so I would be sparing this eevee of an evil, hated existence. Right?

My mind finally seemed to jump to the here and now as I registered that the eevee had stopped her speaking. I was able to concentrate on the eevee's entire face now, not just her eyes. She was gazing at me with a look of confusion and admiration. Perhaps she was wondering why I hadn't spoken to her yet.

"Daddy?" She asked softly, cocking her head slightly to the side. My eye twitched in its socket for a moment.

_Daddy? _I thought. _Why is she calling me her daddy? We look nothing alike!_

"Daddy. Daddy. Daddy."

"Stop saying that!" I snapped. "I am not your father. Understand?"

She blinked those big purple eyes three times before answering.

"Not father... Daddy! Daddy!" She continued to squeak out as she nuzzled my hands. I groaned inwardly for a moment before I chided her.

"No. I'm not your father and I'm not your daddy. I'm Darkrai, OK? Dark. Rai. Darkrai! Got it?"

"Da...Da..."She started out as I set her on the ground.

"Go on." I encouraged.

"Da...Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" She sang with glee while hopping up and down. I felt my eye twitch again.

"I said **NO**! Are you stupid? I already told you I'm not your father!" I shouted at her.

She stopped jumping and looked up at me. Her grin set into a frown and large tears welled in her eyes. She blinked once and the tears started to stream down her face.

She sat herself down and started to sob in despair. I was so taken aback by her reaction, I didn't know what to do.

"It's okay, It's okay," I said, patting her back gently, "please stop crying." She didn't, if anything she cried even more. _Arceus dammit! _I thought, _ What do I do? _I gripped my head and grasped at a straw.

"I'm sorry...sweet..heart." I ground out as calmly and sincerely as I could, "Daddy's sorry...for yelling at you..."

Her distressed wailing stopped and she looked up at me, blinking the remaining tears from her eyes. Lifting a single, small brown paw she wiped her face dry. Regaining her happy smile she then preceded to jump up and down again. Unsure of what was wrong with her I asked, in as nonthreatening a voice as I could muster.

"Me. Float. Like. Daddy." She chirruped between bounces. I raised my left eye and I'd better go show Gallade that Egg hatched, before my thoughts drifted to disposing of her again.

I didn't really want the other pokemon to see me being followed by a bouncing baby, it would be better if I just held her. Probably.

"Would you like to...sit in my arms?" I questioned hesitantly.

She was practically glowing with joy when I asked her.

"Up Daddy! Up Daddy! Up Daddy!" She chanted.

"Alright, alright, but be quiet now...Daddy...needs to think." She nodded quickly and jumped into my extended arms. Then up to my shoulder where she began to wedge herself between my neck and my collar.

She gave a large yawn before closing her eyes and nuzzling her head under my chin. In a minute she was purring and fast asleep. I thought to wake or at least move her back to my arms, but decided against it. She made a good neck warmer, and it was still a tad chilly out.

Suppressing my nightmare ability I left my home, although I suppose now I should say ours.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Gallade was laughing, albeit he was laughing softly, but still. It was all he had done for the past five minutes after seeing my new "scarf". He was sitting on a rock clutching his sides, infuriating me more and more by the minute.

I have a type advantage over Gallade, and I was very tempted to launch a Dark Pulse at him if he didn't stop laughing in 3...2...1...

**0o0o0o0o0**

Gallade managed to look up from his laughing fit long enough to see the stone cold glare he was receiving from Darkrai. Along with the raising of his right hand in such a manner usually accustomed to Dark Pulse.

Gallade's eyes widened and he shot up and whispered repeatedly:

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I'll stop laughing!"

Darkrai kept raising his arm and Gallade flinched. Bringing his arms up to his face and closed his eyes, ready to defend against an attack.

An attack that never came.

Gallade opened his eyes and dropped his arms when he noticed Darkrai had done the same. Gallade smiled for a moment before Darkrai smacked him upside the head.

**0o0o0o0o0**

"Ouch," Gallade whined, "why'd you hit me?"

"Because-" I snapped, and the eevee shifted slightly around my neck.

"Because," I started softer this time "you were laughing at me."

"Yeah, but we're friends. I didn't mean anything by it, honest." He said trailing his eyes on the ground and rubbing his head absentmindedly. I sighed and placed my hand on his shoulder. He looked back at me.

"I apologize for striking you my friend. Now, may we discuss my "scarf", as you put it?"

Gallade regained his cheery smile and nodded, catching a glance at a pair of curious purple eyes, gazing at him.

**0o0o0o0o0**

The eevee was incredibly curious of Gallade, he was the first pokemon besides myself that she had seen.

She leapt from her spot near my neck towards Gallade, and some deep unknown part of me panicked. I instinctually reached out my arms to catch her.

"Who that? Who that? Who that?" She chimed.

Gallade looked taken aback a moment, but quickly regained his composure. Bowing slightly, he spoke to her in a charming tone.

"Hello little one. My name is Gallade, what's yours?"

She cocked her head to the side in a confused manner and responded

"Don't know," before looking back at me. "My name Daddy?" She asked.

"Eevee." I responded flatly. _Was she so ignorant that she didn't even know what she was? _I thought. She made a sour face at me and huffed.

"Don't like it."

"Too bad, it's your name so deal with it."

"B-b-but Daddy..." She began, tears starting to form in her eyes once more.

_Dear Arceus, _I thought _I can't deal with more crying. What else can I call her? Egg? No, it's a little late for that. E? Still no, but maybe...It was worth a try._

"V, don't start crying again." I warned and she blinked twice.

"What...you call me?" She asked.

"V. You wanted a different name so there you go. Is it acceptable?"

Her face lit up rather quick and she squeaked happily.

"Oh yes Daddy! Me V! Me V! Me V!" I set her upon the ground to continue her chat and to prance around a bit.

I finally acknowledged Gallade again, whom had been casually observing the whole event.

"What?" I growled demandingly. He simply smiled. Not a smile of mockery or of silenced laughter, but more a smile of appreciation.

"You handled that remarkably well." He motioned his head to a western area of the garden. "We should go find Cherrim." And with that he turned and began to walk off in the direction he had suggested.

I began to follow after him when I suddenly got this nagging feeling that I had forgotten something. I had to think about it for a minute before it hit me. _Oh right!_

"V! Come along, we're going now!" I shouted. V appeared from some small brush and bounded over blithely.

"Yes Daddy!"

**0o0o0o0o0**

**That's it for chapter 7. I hope the waits between each of these chapters isn't to terrible. And don't worry I will finish this story, I swear. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter (:**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow, how long has it been since I updated this story? **

**First off I'd like to apologize for being gone for so long, especially to those who enjoy this story, hopefully there are people out there that still do. I just graduated from High School and am going to be starting college in a week. Plus the fact that a friend of my family had just died suddenly... well things got a bit overwhelming. **

**I thought about perhaps leaving this story, but I recently pulled a Darkrai EX card from a Dark Explorers pack and it rekindled my interest in finishing the story, for better or for worse.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**00000000**

It had taken longer than I had originally anticipated to meet up with Cherrim. I'd estimated that the three of us would reach our destination in about twenty minutes. V had no problem blowing away that theory. The little eevee just couldn't seem to stay focused. She was constantly stopping to smell all the flowers along the path. Then she even refused to keep walking unless we smelled too. Gallade didn't really seem to mind, but I suppose he was just being polite. I, on the other hand, did not have his patience towards such nonsense.

"Come smell the... the..."

"Flowers." Gallade supplied.

"Flowers! Flowers!" V repeated. "Come smell the flowers Daddy!"

"**No!** I have had enough of this V." I growled angrily. "You've had us stop over seventeen times to smell a bunch of weeds! It's driving me _**mad**_!"

"Now Darkrai, there is no need to yell." Gallade said softly, stepping in front of V and holding up his hands.

_What is this?! Does he believe I'm going to hurt her? _The idea infuriated me, and I'm certain Gallade could feel the festering anger in my aura. _I have to get out of here before I do something I regret. _

"**I'M NOT YELLING**!" I roared, launching a Dark Pulse at a nearby tree. The trunk literally shattered under the force of my attack, splinters flying every which way. I lowered myself into the ground and shot off. I didn't look back. I had felt the fear rolling off V from my outburst, and for some reason the thought of seeing that fear on her face pained me. I dare not look back, even after V's small voice called out for me. I only dove further into the welcoming shadows.

**0o0o0o0o0**

"Daddy, mad at me..." V spoke quietly, her ears lay flat on her head in a dejected manner. Gallade gave a sigh at the pitiful sight and sat down beside her.

"Now V, Darkrai's not mad at you. He's..."

"Mad at flowers?" She asked, ears flicking back up. Gallade looked back at the tree that Darkrai demolished and the flowers crumpled at its base.

"Umm... Sure."

"Why?"

"Because," Gallade considered, "he has issues."

"Issues?" V tilted her head.

"Yeah, he uhh, doesn't like to talk about it."

"Oh." She said .

She didn't say anything else as she turned and stared into Gallade's eyes. A feeling of unease climbed up his spine as he looked back into her unwavering gaze. Those eyes unnerved him and he couldn't maintain eye contact with her for long. He looked away, feigning interest in something to his left and spoke.

"Well, Darkrai's probably cooled down by now so we can-"

**Rustle. Rustle.**

Gallade whipped his head back around to the spot where V had been, just quick enough to see the tip of her tail disappear into the brush. When he parted the foliage she had entered she was nowhere to be seen.

"V?" He called out. There was no response.

"Aw crap."

**0o0o0o0o0**

Beneath a large tree I sat quietly, it was notably bigger than the one I had just destroyed, and that made me think of Alice. If she were here she surely would have scolded me for such a misdeed. That made me smile, inwardly smile at least. If she were here she'd probably make me go back and apologize too. Personally I believe I have already exceeded my apology limit, but still. It wouldn't be very beneficial to me if my lack of an apology caused V to restart her fits of sobbing.

I sighed and closed my eyes, pondering for several minutes when I felt a familiar aura. Reluctantly I opened my eyes and looked at V. She looked back, but for once her eyes were not streaming with tears, she appeared very calm in fact.

There was a dandelion to her right and she lifted her paw and swatted it a few times before crushing it into the ground.

"Love you, Daddy." She spoke confidently, eyes glittering.

I couldn't say it back, she wasn't my daughter, not really, how could I really _love _ her the way a parent is supposed to?

I did, however, lower my arms for her to climb into. And for the time being that seemed good enough for her.

**0o0o0o0o0**

**That's it for chapter 8, it is a bit short, but hopefully once I get back into the swing of things they'll get a little longer. Hopefully the story still seems enjoyable and people still want to read it. I don't know how often I will be updating, but I really do want to finish this story. **


	9. Chapter 9

**So... Hey everyone, what has it been, two years now since I last did anything with story. What can I say, things have gotten away from me and I have been pretty wrapped up in school and work and the like. Even so, I really have wanted to do more with story. So, believe it or not, here is a legitimate update. Enjoy :)**

**000000**

Chapter 9

It had not taken very much time to retrace V's steps back to a very flustered Gallade. It took even less to finally reach our actual destination when we walked in, relative, silence and concentrated on getting to where we needed to go.

V sat quietly in my arms, which in itself was quite surprising, as I have never seen her be so still and inactive. And yet, here she was, making no sound other than the light breathing as she filled her delicate lungs with air and then exhaled. Occasionally she would tilt her head back to look up at me and smile. Her bright purple eyes practically twinkling in admiration. I did not return he smile, my facial structure is rather incapable of making such an expression. Even if it was, I would not have smiled back. Unlike Gallade, I feel no obligation to pepper her with false sentiments of happiness.

Speaking of Gallade, I am certain that he had something to do with V's new behavior. And I find myself curious as to what he might have said or done to elicit such a change in her. Not that I am complaining, mind you. Either way, I will have to question him about it later. At this present moment in time we have more immediate concerns.

Our odd, little trio had only just entered Cherrim's clearing in the garden, but the second we had, the place got deathly quiet. All the other pokemon present before us became still, halting conversations midway. Even the rough play of the younglings stopped cold as they noticed their parents sudden distress. I could hear Gallade swallow loudly next to me. He is nervous. I do not blame him. Over a dozen sets of eyes were firmly locked on us and, for the moment, nobody was saying a word. It is a silence short lived, however, as the others expressions rapidly warp from shock to confusion and finally anger in the blink of an eye. A cacophony of voices starts up all at once, becoming more and more aggressive. Harsh litanies of insults and frantic mutterings.

"What's IT doing here?!"

"Demon!"

"Monster!" "Murderer!"

"What's going on?" "Killer!"

"Leave!"

Though I do not care much for their hateful words at this instant, I am usually rather indifferent to their feelings about me. I really do not give a raticate's ass what they think, nor whether if they fear or hate me. I can assure that my mindset on the matter is simple though. I base it on the fact that I could easily smite them all into a pile of red pulp if I so chose to. I am confident they know this as well, and yet they continue to try my patience. Their words will fail to hurt me nearly as much as my attacks will hurt them. _Although, if I were to kill one or two of them right now I am quite certain that the rest of them would shut right up. _I chuckled to myself for a moment.

I would never do such a thing though, probably. If I did, I know Alice would never forgive me and I do not think I could bear having her look at me with the same hate filled eyes as the pokemon here do... Besides, killing is a bit of an overly extreme form of problem solving. I tend to avoid it anyways. Honestly though, all that is besides the point. Despite my internal ramblings on my own indifference towards the matter at hand, I can assuredly say that I do not appreciate the others shouting in front of V. _Hmph~ And in front of their own young ones as well. _I thought, noticing the figures of the youngest pokemon cowering behind their parents. V herself had flattened her large ears against the back of her head and tucked her face into the crook of my arm, trying to block out the yelling. I could see the shivers wracking her small frame as she tried to hold back fear ridden sobs. It still surprises me how seeing her in such a state awakens some strange instinct inside me and I feel as though I must do something to stop it. I was about to silence them all when someone beat me to it.

"Quiet! All of you!" The voice rang through the clearing. The others ceased speaking all at once and looked to the one who had just shouted in relative shock. They all fully turned to face the absolutely livid Cherrim with slack jaws. Never before had they heard her raise her voice in such anger, if their expressions were to be believed at least.

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves, bringing such hatred and negativity into my home. Darkrai has every right to be here. In fact, I personally invited him." She admonished. I suddenly had quite the childish urge to stick my tongue out at the lot of them, but refrained from doing so as it would no doubt hurt my dark image, and I am physically incapable of actually doing it in the first place.

"But Cherrim-" The large luxray began before being quickly cut off.

"No. You listen to me now." She spoke in a stern and powerful voice that seemed rather strange coming from someone of such a petite size. Luxray stayed quiet, but his glare spoke volumes as it wavered between Cherrim and myself.

"I am quite used to dealing with unruly children, Luxray. And if you continue to act like a petulant child, then I will treat you as such. That goes for the rest of you as well. Darkrai is here to observe, as is his little one, and I will not have any of your feuds poisoning my home. This is a place to learn and be safe and if any one of you causes any problems, Darkrai included, I will remove them personally." She let her gaze wander over everyone at least once as she addressed them.

"Do I make myself clear." That last part was more a statement than a question and one by one the other adult pokemon nodded. I have to say, I was impressed, Cherrim could be downright intimidating when she wanted to be.

"Wonderful!" She said. "Now that we've all settled down, we may finally begin." The other pokemon seemed to understand what Cherrim meant more than Gallade and I did, but as Cherrim had just personally designated us as observers I decided it best not to ask her about it right now. I did take notice to the fact that there were other pokemon idly standing about, as our trio was, rather than joining in on the little group circle currently being formed by Cherrim and the others.

"They're the newer parents, Cherrim likes to hold these little sessions to help out the pokemon who don't quite know how to raise their kids yet." A voice helpfully supplied from my left. A quick glance over confirmed my guess on who was speaking to us.

"Hello Quagsire, how are you doing today?" Gallade asked of him, always the friendly one. Quagsire took a minute to respond and for a moment I had thought he had dozed off.

"Well I was getting rather bored until you three showed up. Exciting things sure happen when you come around, Darkrai. Hehe." He let out a low chuckle. "Don't worry about me though, I'm good at going with the flow."

I have no reason to doubt Quagsire's sincerity. Despite finding him to be a bit of a dull conversationalist, he has never openly regarded me with any sort of malice and has never set out to ignore me either.

"Good to know." I stated. It took another awkward minute to pass before he responded with a "mhmm" and walked off towards his nephew, who was currently rolling around in some fresh mud, probably his own creation.

"It was certainly kind of Quagsire to take care of Wooper after his sister passed," Gallade said sadly, "he didn't seem like the type to even be capable of raising a child, and yet, the two of them are near inseparable now." He did not say any more, but I got the gist of what he was trying to tell me.

"We will see."

**0o0o0o0o0**

_Daddy has such funny friends. _V thought to herself as the strange blue pokemon waddled off to join another smaller one rolling in some wet dirt. It looked like fun, but Daddy might get angry if she got dirty. V didn't like it when Daddy got angry. She looked back up at Daddy and Gallade, who were talking to each other about something boring. With a few good twists she managed to wriggle out of her dad's arms, her legs were starting to tingle a bit from being held for so long. Her dad looked down at her in slight surprise, he didn't show it, but V always knew what he was feeling. She gave a smile and a little chirrup to comfort him and he turned back to his conversation with Gallade.

It wasn't often she saw so many other pokemon, some of them had looked pretty scary earlier, but now that they stopped shouting they all seemed nice enough. Maybe one of the smaller ones would even want to play! She skipped over towards a little group of them that were all quietly giggling and asked them if she could play too. They gave her a side glance before shuffling a few steps away from her and resuming their conversation. _Maybe they didn't hear me _She thought, and tried again.

"What are you guys talking about?"

The group quieted again as a small, yellow and black pokemon with horns huffed and spun his arms around once.

"It's none of your business, so scram!" He exclaimed and the others nodded in agreement. V looked around at the group, confused. Why didn't they want to talk with her? She couldn't ask them as they walked off. For a moment she thought to pursue them and try to be friends again, but a soft voice stopped her.

"You shouldn't go after them, they're not very nice." V turned to look at the pokemon who had spoken to her.

"Who're you? My name's V!" Her excitement returned full force at the prospect of finally making a new friend. The oval shaped, orange-brown pokemon shuffled up from where he had been sitting against a tree. His large, curled, grey antennae gave a shy twitch, and with it, a sweet, musical sound.

"Kricketot. Nice to meet you." He politely answered.

"So, do you want to be friends?" V quickly asked. Kricketot seemed startled for a moment, blinking his little, round eyes several times before responding.

"Well. I... um... o-okay, but-"

"Yay! I made a new friend!" V interjected loudly. "C'mon, you have to meet Daddy!" V couldn't wait to show her dad and Gallade the new best friend she found.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Poor Kricketot couldn't even offer up a single protest as the young eevee, named V apparently, dragged him along towards the incredibly intimidating, god of nightmares. At least, that's what his mother always described Darkrai as. Kricketot had seen Darkrai a few times, usually from a reasonable distance, but never really thought of the dark-type as scary. Kricketot always thought Darkrai was a brave and strong pokemon, especially when he saved Alamos Town from being destroyed by Dialga and Palkia. Now _they _were scary! That didn't mean, however, that Kricketot was overly fond of meeting Darkrai face to face just yet. It would seem that he really didn't have a choice in the matter, though, as V had just finally managed to push him all the way over to where the black pokemon was standing, or hovering, he supposed.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look at the new friend I made!"

Kricketot would have been content if he had been left unacknowledged, but V was quick to draw the attention of the two elder pokemon. Kricketot suddenly decided that he did agree with mother, that Darkrai did look rather intimidating at the moment. He felt his whole body freeze as Darkrai's one visible eye twitched, in what Kricketot thought might be aggravation, and the young pokemon nearly flinched under the intense look. It was just then that Gallade lightly elbowed Darkrai in the side before addressing them both.

"Well that's wonderful V, I am sure Darkrai and I are _both _very happy that you've made a friend. _Right?_"

Kricketot didn't think that that last part was directed towards V or himself. His suspicions proved true when he noted the sideways glance Gallade threw Darkrai, an exchange of words without anything being said. Darkrai in turn gave an exasperated sigh and responded with,

"Yes, simply wonderful."

Darkrai was quick to change his attention back to the now separating circle of pokemon. Gallade gave a cheery smile to the two youngsters and went back to discussing with, a now even more silent, Darkrai.

"Oh goody, Daddy really likes you!" V exclaimed as she began to drag him off again. Kricketot wasn't too sure about that, but... His mother, Kricketune, had always told him Darkrai despised bug-types and would drop one into a nightmare filled slumber if they so much as looked at him, and yet...

Kricketot had not only looked at Darkrai, but also just befriended his peculiar "daughter". He would admit that the dark-type had looked a little upset, sort of, but he hadn't even raised his voice, let alone trap him within a Dark Void. These thoughts jingled around in Kricketot's mind and he wondered why no one else could see what he had just seen.

**0o0o0o0o0**

"It would figure that out of all the runts here, she would go and befriend a bug." I grumbled to myself. Unfortunately, Gallade did not seem to get that I did not seem to get that I did not want him to respond.

"Why does this irritate you so much? Would you prefer her just to have no friends at all?"

"Perhaps." I responded flatly. Gallade let out a rather undignified squawk at that.

"That's not a very fatherly thing to say, Darkrai." A feminine voice chided. Lucky me, Cherrim finished with her little study group and was ready to talk to us.

"I never said I would be her father, only that I would take care of her until she could do it herself."

"Yes, I suppose you did. How has she been doing by the way, any troubles?" I nearly scoffed at that.

"She is plenty annoying, but otherwise, no."

"Oh, that is good to hear, and I see she has found a friend in dear little Kricketot. He is such a shy thing, it will do him good to socialize with someone as outgoing as V." She glanced over to where the two were situated and noticed a third pokemon had joined them. It was Luxray's boy, Shinx. He was normally a well-behaved boy during her lessons, hopefully he wouldn't be starting any trouble now.

"Anyways, since we have a moment to ourselves, I'd like to give you a few tips to help you. V is a bit too young to participate in my class just yet, but I think it would be beneficial if you would show her around the garden some more in the mean time, maybe even take her to see the town. Alice and Tonio should be back soon, correct? You should introduce her to them."

"Yes, I cannot wait to recount all of my misfortunes to them."

"Oh, I'm sure." Cherrim smiled.

"Daddy..."

I looked down as V was gingerly approaching us, her chipper mood all but gone.

"What is wrong?" I asked her, looking up I saw Kricketot with a rather sad expression as his mother came to ferry him off. Then there was Shinx, whom I had not noticed earlier, looking guilty. My eyes narrowed at him and he frightfully scampered off.

"Can... Can we go home now?" V muttered. Cherrim appeared slightly worried, but gave me a slight nod.

"We'll talk later, alright?" She finished and left the three of us alone in an uneasy silence.

**000000**

The sky had begun turning a pleasant shade of orange as the sun began its descent. V had been quietly sitting in my arms the entire way back home. Gallade kept throwing me concerned glances, but I could only shrug, lightly as not to jostle V, in response.

When we finally had to part ways with Gallade I had just about enough of this silent treatment.

"Do you want to tell me what is wrong now?" I asked her. She looked up at me and then proceeded to jump out of my arms down to the ground.

"That boy, Shinx..." She began, I knew he had something to do with this.

"Go on."

"He said you are a murderer, that you killed people... What do those words mean?" She looked up at me with those questioning, purple eyes. I was slightly taken aback by the directness of her query. Although a good father might try to skirt around the issue I had already declared that that was something I would never be.

"They mean to end the life of someone else." I told her. Her expression turned to shock, but she kept eye contact with me.

"Is it true? Are you a killer?" She asked. Her voice was steady, despite the nature of our subject. I relinquished a small sigh.

"...Yes"

Crying, screaming, declarations of hate. These were all things I considered would be spouted at me with that admission, but nothing of the sort happened. V was staring at the ground, but returned her gaze to me and asked:

"Did they deserve it?"

That was not the response I expected, but there was no turning back now. It was surprising that it was I who could not keep eye contact with her now.

"I do not remember."

**000000**

**A/N So that's the end of chapter 9, I hope it's still interesting to everyone reading and didn't seem to rushed, but I really wanted to get through this part. I can't give any real answer on when there will be another update, but I will try to work on it when I have time. Now I just have to try and figure out how to upload this onto the site. It has been so long I seem to have forgotten. Leave a review if you'd like, they let me know that this story is worth continuing :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**So let us see, another whole month comes and goes and I am actually updating again. In comparison to the whole two year thing this is actually quite the improvement. I would not suggest getting too used to these, somewhat, more often updates, however. I was on a role, and had been working on this new chapter when I was not too swamped by school and work, so I really wanted to write this chapter before I forgot where I wanted to go with it. Anyways, thank you everyone who reviewed, you guys are awesome and give me good reason to want to keep writing. Alas, here is the new chapter. Enjoy :D**

**I do not own Pokemon nor do I profit from this**

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Chapter 10

It was a warm and quiet night. The ground was still slightly damp, a good reminder to watch what I say around Articuno. The sky was dark, but not overly so, as the stars and moon shone rather brightly through a few scattered clouds. The garden pokemon were all asleep, as they should be on such a calm and peaceful night. Everyone except for myself, anyways.

Today had been... interesting, to say the least. And it certainly did not go like I had thought it would. A torrent of thoughts were swirling around in my head. Old memories from so many years ago were bubbling to the surface of my mind, bits and pieces so fragmented I thought they would never be dredged up again. The conversation I had with V earlier was having more of an impact on me than I would have liked, and I still have barely any clue as to what she is really thinking and feeling about the whole situation.

When I first answered V, I was surprised by her reaction, or maybe, lack-there-of. Sure she was shocked, but I could not seem to identify what else she might have been experiencing at that moment. Her aura had lost the bubbly excitement it normally held when we had talked earlier and the rest of our walk back to my arbor, luckily we had been close to it at the time, was in a returning silence. She had walked on her own the rest of the way, not having asked to be carried, even though she wobbled slightly with tiredness, and I did not offer to do so. I am not certain if she would have refused if I had asked. _Was I frightened she would reject me if I did offer? _I wondered. _Is that why I did not do so?_

I let out a heavy sigh and breathed a few more calming breaths in the way Alice had showed me. It helped, but not by much.

I have not felt this conflicted in a long time, which was good, as I really did not handle it well. I closed my eyes as I leaned back against a tree and my mind drifted again. Farther back into the much darker recesses of my brain. Images flitted past my vision quickly, almost like a slide projector. Still pictures of scenery, of a place by the water looking out towards twin islands. An island of light and an island of dark. The cityscape changed with the seasons, rapidly alternating between the four, like some sort of spinning slot machine, before it settled on a picturesque view of Canalave City in autumn. The image warped again, to a similar view, but with a near pitch black sky. The lights upon the dock shone brightly while the street lamps slightly dimmed. They emitted a low hum as the charge whirled about within the bulbs. A lone mothim seemed utterly fascinated with the lights and I suspect it may have likely attempted to make contact with the bright object if the image had been in motion. And yet... I swear I could also hear the wing beats that would accompany the action of its movement.

Regardless of my query of pictures with sound, I was curious as to why these images in particular were surfacing. They did not seem particularly relevant. Although, they were of Canalave City, a place I had not been to in quite a while.

_Clink!_

My view focused back to the mothim, now in contact with the light. Had the picture changed without my noticing? As if in answer, my whole person felt as if it had been smashed into a wall, my vision blurred, but when I was able to see again I could tell that the picture had indeed changed. Now the image was that of a house, almost disturbingly lit up by the street lamp out front. The homes front light was broken, deserving of the small, pink citation hung upon the front door. A slight rain began to trickle down from the dark, moonless sky, completing the cliché picture.

It was then I realized that this image was not frozen in time, but moved in an almost slow motion. The volume of the rain grew in quantity, but fell no faster than before. A single, jagged line of lightning lit the sky and then the image froze completely, the house eerily illuminated in contrasting shadows and lights. It was then, I realized, I recognized this residence. I was jolted again, but this time my vision did not clear. All around me was a thick blackness, all encompassing. Apparently, this was a moment of my past that I could not recall entirely. No images were presented, but the sounds were there... the feelings as well. Either I truly did not recall the visual, or I did not wish too...

The next thing I felt was euphoria, near rapturous pleasure and delight and then... A taste. The delectable taste of something breaking. I recognized the flavor as one I had not indulged in for decades now. It was an addictive taste as well, that of human nightmares. Even now, in the thralls of a mere memory, the high of such dreams called out to me. A subtle caress that gripped and encompassed my very being like a delightful drug.

"ngh-" I groaned, internally I suppose, since this whole current reminiscing appears to be occurring totally within the confines of my own psyche. Old habits die hard, it seems. Even after all these years, given only the slightest recollection of those feelings nearly drives me back into a relapse. I find it rather shameful that I seem to have such a lack of willpower towards the matter..., but my self-deprecation will have to wait as a baritone shout jarred my thoughts. The screaming turned gravelly and began to die down into an almost drowning gurgle before it sputtered and wheezed. Finally, it was quiet. The delicious bliss I felt in my gut faded quite a bit, but it left a pleasant tingle in its wake. A feeling of satisfaction washed over me, like a parched man wetting his tongue with water after going thirsty for so long. But along with the good feelings comes a steady pulse of a bad one. It was a feeling of wrongness...

It was then that my vision brightened, the haze surrounding me began to evaporate away until I saw a dark room. It was quite messy. Large undergarments for a male human were thrown about the floor. Beer cans, crunched up from the force of a heel coming down upon them, were haphazardly deposited into a near overflowing garbage can in the corner. There was a simple dresser pressed up against the wall, a couple of picture frames were placed face down. Atop the dresser was an average sized mirror. It was broken, shattered, many shards of glass had fallen from its reflective face. The pieces could not be found upon the floor and I assumed they had been cleaned up at some point. I looked at the mirror again and was surprised. I could see my own reflection as I gazed into the broken mirror and something twisted looked back. The spider web cracks and filthy, oily smudges distorted my visage into something disgusting and monstrous. And that is exactly what the other bad feeling that was creeping up on me was as I saw the reflection of a bed in partially undamaged section of the mirror. I turned to look, I had no choice, this was a memory after all and I was compelled to turn and face the scene.

Lying upon the unkempt mattress in a disheveled state was a seemingly middle-aged man, possible younger. The moonlight upon his face reflected his age poorly and I do not normally pay mind to the aging of humans. I could see his expression quite clearly though. His countenance was frozen in an aghast portrait, eyes blown wide horror. His entire body lay unmoving, but not within normal sleep. No, the sleep I had given this man was far more permanent. I knew the truth, and yet, I could not help but reach out a clawed hand and hold it above his face.

Nothing. He did not breathe. I had killed him.

I remember. I went too far when I fed on him, I could not... stop myself. I took everything his weak body could give and then some. This man was dead because of me.

And it had felt _good._

**0o0o0o0o0**

I came back to reality with a start, breath heavy and ragged. I reached out my hand to brace it against the tree behind me, just trying to ground myself to the fact that I was back in reality and not in my own messed up subconscious. How unfortunate that the day's events stirred up so much unpleasantness. I took a calming deep breath to relax myself a little. And just like before, it did not help very much. But I could feel my heart beginning to slow its aggressive pounding in my chest and I was, at least, grateful for that. Foul memories beget fouler dreams.

Now that my head seemed a little clearer, I thought of the dream, memory, nightmare- whatever it was, and tried to recall it better. I must have suppressed the memory, pushed it back into the furthest recesses of my mind, just like I did with the others. The guilt I always felt after I failed to control myself never fully dissipated, but even so, it never really stopped me from wanting more. That man from my dream was not my first victim and he was not my last. I admit I had a problem, an addiction. Eating nightmares has always been filling for me. I could survive on them alone, actually. It would not earn me any favors among the garden pokemon, but it could be done. Even so, I do not experience the same sort of pleasurable high when I eat the nightmares of my fellow pokemon compared to when I devour those of humans. The fear they are capable of experiencing in their dreams can be so much more intense. So much more delicious. I remember that after a while I gave up the dreams of pokemon altogether, feasting solely on those of humans. While it was draining to the humans, perhaps even bordering on painful, I had never intentionally set out to kill any of them. But... occasionally I come across especially wicked dreams. Such wicked dreams may come from nasty people, but sometimes they come from good people who have seen bad things.

Regardless, these dreams have a darkness within them that calls out to me. When I devour them it is like a shot of ecstasy, and sometimes I just lose control. And then... well, I suppose their hearts just give out. Perhaps I have tried to forget these occurrences over the years, but I also seem to just lose time as well. I black out, might be a good way to put it. I do not remember what may have happened after I lost myself in the midst of a dark feeding, who else I may have targeted. But I know not all of my victims deserved their fates.

I sank my claws into my left forearm and winced. I did not stop until I felt the dampness of blood well up beneath my talons.

"Calm yourself!" I demanded.

I removed my claws, in doing so, a trickle of blood flowed freely from my self-inflicted wound and dripped quietly down to the cool ground, mixing with the dirt.

"Calm yourself." I repeated "I am not that pokemon anymore. I have not fed upon a human in over twenty years. That addiction no longer holds sway over me."

It was true, I have been clean for a while now. I still do not even touch pokemon dreams, I dare not take any chances when it comes to a possible relapse.

I breathed deeply again and, in a momentary lapse of cognitive function, wished Cresselia was here. She was a key factor in helping me overcome my original addiction and a part of me misses the loyal support she gave me throughout the ordeal of my withdrawal.

_Siblings stick together, Darkrai. Even if their brother is a big, depressing grump. _I remember her telling me.

_And even if their sister is a whiner and much too sparkly? _I had jibed back at her. She had briefly scrunched up her nose in distaste at that, but, remarkably, responded with a lighthearted chuckle and:

_Yeah. Even then._

It had been a difficult obstacle to overcome, and, although I never told her as such, I would have never been able to do so without Cresselia's help. We may bicker and insult each other, as I am sure all siblings do at some point, but it is still nice to know that she will always be there if I need her. That is not to say I cannot take care of myself, but it is a good feeling knowing family has your back.

Family.

Such an interesting word, such an intriguing concept. What is family, really? Cresselia is family, she is my sister after all, but... What about Alice and Tonio? Alice told me she considered me to be "part of the family." Tonio agreed too, but it seems absurd. There is no blood between us, we are not even of the same species, and yet, they would still consider me family? What does that say about me? I have never really thought about it before. I certainly thought of them as dear acquaintances and, dare I say, true friends, but family? Is there even a set rule of what a family must consist of to be considered as such? Hmm~

Alice and Tonio consider each other family, they consider Chimchar, Drifblim and Gallade family, and apparently me as well. Do I feel the same way?

Alice and Tonio always believed in me and Gallade has stuck by my side through a lot, even though it has caused him a lot of pain. I am not the most considerate of pokemon and do not often acknowledge the sacrifices he has made to maintain our friendship and yet he still defends and sticks with me. They have got my back it would seem. Is that not what being a family is about?

_So, _I wondered, _where does that leave V? How does she fit into the scheme of things?_

It still was not clear as to what she was truly feeling in regards to my recent admission. When we had returned home I had left her to sleep beneath the arbor and then wandered off to where I am now. I glanced at the sky. The sun was beginning to rise from the east of Alamos Town and the darkness was chased off by the morning light.

V was an early riser so she would probably wake up soon. Despite any new feelings towards me, I should probably still go try and talk to her, best not to let our last conversation sit and fester beneath a bandage. I have to let it air out and breather, I need to know what she is thinking.

I straightened from my slouched position, ready to go back to my arbor, when I stopped at a familiar feeling. A calm, slumbering aura tingled in my peripheral senses. I had not noticed before, distracted as I was, and could not even ascertain as to when she might have shown up. I quietly circled around to the backside of the tree and encompassed the slumbering V within my shadow, barely cast by the light of morning. She lay tightly curled in a small pile of leaves, nose nestled warmly within the confines of her tail. How much had she seen of my inner turmoil coming forth? Had she tried to wake me from my nightmarish memories? Had I accidentally put her to sleep with a Dark Void?!

No, that could not be. She was behind the tree, not in front of me. Plus it looked like she may have gathered the leaves herself to form her little _nest_. She had come to find me though... That thought, it warmed me more than I thought it would. I gazed down at her. I think I would have smiled if I could. I reached out a hand to feel her soft coat, gently, and then I realized something. She was sleeping peacefully. I had been so distracted all this time, plus I had thought I was alone, and I had no reason to dampen the force of my ability, meaning that V should really be in the throes of a horrible nightmare.

But no, she slept soundly, no tossing or turning to be seen.

"How... unnatural" I mumbled.

In a moment, of what some may call cruelty, I amped up the pressure of my ability. I channeled it towards V's prone form, trying for a reaction; shuddering, shaking, a scream perchance. I did not receive anything so drastic, but a slight shiver did begin in her limbs and she whimpered slightly. The sound jarred me and I pulled back as if burnt. I surmise it was the realization that my actions were actually quite wicked and I had no logical excuse to do such a thing to a sleeping child. Once I eased up, however, V settled back into a calm sleep. I sighed and slumped down beside her, curiosity peaked and conscience somewhat unsettled.

_How strange, _I thought, _V does not feel the sting of my nightmares unless I force them upon her._

I felt a spark of something akin to jealousy at that. That V could sleep peacefully, near immune to my ability, Arceus knows why, and yet I have been plagued by nightmares twice as wretched as usual.

_Ever since V came into my life, actually. _I mused.

I glanced down at her again and simply watched the rhythmic rise and fall of her fluffy chest as she breathed.

"What a peculiar little beast you are," I muttered as I watched the sun climb above the trees, "and troublesome. But still..." I looked down at her one last time as the morning light nearly reached us.

"I have your back."

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A/N And so chapter 10 comes to a close. I cannot say for certain when I will even get around to chapter 11 though. I have so many ideas swirling in my head for this story, ones that I have actually had for a long time, but sometimes I just do not have the motivation to write. Plus I type _really _slow, so I really do not look forward to that part. Anyways, I appreciate all the lovely comments from the last chapter, hugs for all of you! Read and review if you like the new chapter, they feed my soul after all ;)


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